


Flower-Crowned (Real Gods Require Blood)

by OnceABlueMoon



Series: Deity AUs [17]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Blood Magic, Curses, Fairy Tale Elements, Fantasy, Gods, M/M, Multi, Old Gods, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 09:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceABlueMoon/pseuds/OnceABlueMoon
Summary: A high-pitched giggle cuts through the darkness like the flash of a knife in the low light of the city hall. ‘’Brother, oh, brother, give me your wreath! I want to wear it, upon my pretty head!’’Tsunayoshi’s breath hitches, noiselessly whirling up, hair and robes send flying as rose-petal lips are bitten. Picked up by the wind, he eddies through the air.He doesn’t know why she’s after him, but to wait for Mami-No-Face, Cherry-child the Bloodthirsty, is akin to suicide.Her name is in the wind, and god, it chills to the bone.
Relationships: Hibari Kyouya/Kozato Enma, Hibari Kyouya/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kozato Enma & Kozato Mami, Kozato Enma/Hibari Kyouya/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kozato Enma/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kozato Mami & Sawada Tsunayoshi
Series: Deity AUs [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/698502
Comments: 5
Kudos: 55
Collections: KHR Rare Pair Week 2020





	Flower-Crowned (Real Gods Require Blood)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

> “All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.”   
> ― **Zora Neale Hurston** , **Their Eyes Were Watching God**

There is a sleepy little town in the corner of his heart, the place where his mother birthed him. It is the heart of the earth, the place where all Gods existify, begin as all things began once.

Lying here, on the forest floor, staring up at stars not his, Tsunayoshi is at peace. His hair is his bed, and if he covers his ears softly, hands like leaves just fallen, for a second, they are his mothers.

His mama was the Earth, his papa just had good luck, and his mama loved him so much she died with him. Such is the way of the immortal- not even the divine heart is undying. Taking a mortal lover comes with risks.

It is night and the forest wakes, from the top of the trees, to the roots in the earth, mighty, sleepy, answering the call of the moon in a hum so ancient few can hear but all, oh, all can feel.

Mist rises, drifting.

A high-pitched giggle cuts through the darkness like the flash of a knife in the low light of a city hall. ‘’Brother, oh, brother, give me your wreath! I want to wear it, upon my pretty head!’’

Tsunayoshi’s breath hitches, noiselessly whirling up, hair and robes send flying as rose-petal lips are bitten. Picked up by the wind, he eddies through the air.

He doesn’t know why she’s after him, but to wait for Mami-No-Face, Cherry-child the Bloodthirsty, is akin to suicide.

Her name is in the wind, and god, it chills to the bone.

She reaches out and touches him. It burns, by god, does her curse burn him. Her claws dig into his skin, but he manages to free himself just before she can cut into it. Bruises he can bear- his blood at her altar he cannot. She makes a grab for the wreath, but he’s already gone, heart beating in his throat and her true name echoing through his head. Her form, caked in the blood of her victims, and her head, a void without a face to be seen, make him shiver.

He runs the only way he can, through air, with his long, brown hair made for nesting birds piled up in his arm as not to hurt its inhabitants, other hand clutching the wreath to his head.

He can’t lose it- it’s the last part of his mama he has and Tsunayoshi wears it with pride.

His feet gently touch the bark of the tree as not to harm it- but why does the wind not carry him further? He nudges at it with his feet, and it nudges back until he’s seated, feet neatly tucked under him, almost pressed against the tree.

What-

…There is no moonlight. There is no moonlight, but there are no clouds.

It is new moon.

Tsunayoshi shivers.

A burst of fire catches his attention- there, to his right, the branches part, showing the clearing beneath perfectly.

Flickering flames dancing, the long grass weaving, cold night air clashing with a single source of heat. The den of a god. And oh, oh, oh. What a sight it is. From the centre of the flames, the deity rises.

Naked, he is, all long planes of dark, coal skin, shoulders broad, mouth gaping, eyes piercing embers of glowing fire, his hair waves upon waves of flickering flames.

He smoulders.

The god is so bright, yet so pitch-black, that Tsunayoshi gasps when his eyes fall upon the man behind him, the wind carrying the sound away quick, quick, quickly- but never fast enough.

The man, a second deity, wraps himself around the god made up out of glowing embers, all white skin and sinuous long limbs, riveting his eyes upwards. Eyes grey as the sky when storming meet Tsunayoshi’s. He knows this god. Tsunayoshi startles so badly that he falls down.

‘’Who dares to enter?’’ The white one, the skylark, flies forward, limb and feathers shifting constantly. They gleam, in the firelight, oil-heavy.

‘’…I mean no ill, Hibari-no-mikoto.’’

Claws wrap around his throat. ‘’Do you think I care, wreath-child?’’

‘’…Wreath _god,_ Hibari-no-mikoto.’’

‘’You’ll be a _dead_ god, _trespasser.’’_

Tsunayoshi’s breath speeds up, the mice in his robes squeak and the birds in his hair chirp angrily at Hibari-no-mikoto.

‘’Please leave him alone, Kyoya, he carries little ones, don’t you see?’’ The one burnished in fire- Enma, Enma-Magma-Made- reaches out, but stops just short of touching Tsunayoshi, belatedly remembering his life-destroying heat.

The winged god scoffs, pecking angrily. ‘’He himself is nothing but a fool for showing up here. A little one when he should not be, a coward, hiding in lion skin. Real gods require blood. He’s just wine and flowers. I don’t get how you can stand him near when you _know_ he could long have demanded a blood sacrifice. He need not live a half-life as a half-god, and yet he does. I bear no cowards in my pantheon.’’

Enma-Magma-Made’s face shifts. It’s a strange sight to see, the flow of lava upon his body changing direction to form his frown. His eyes, embers, smoulder with regret. ‘’You know that I’d rather have remained a half-god too, if I could.’’

Hibari-no-mikoto snarls at that. ‘’You killed in cold blood, demanded blood sacrifice and it was for the better! Your family’s killer is now dead, your sister avenged, and only a _real_ god has the power to do so. You know better than to-‘’ His eyes land on Tsunayoshi, and he stops talking abruptly. ‘’What, you got nothing better to do than watching a random lover’s spat?!’’

‘’It’s just- she chased me here.’’ Tsunayoshi nearly sobs, digging his nails into his palms to keep from crying. Of all the gods to meet at a night like this…

Then again, Hibari-no-mikoto is far preferable to Mami-No-Face.

‘’I need help. Somethi-‘’ Tsunayoshi stops. He may not be able to called Mami by her name, he cannot betray her like that, and an abomination she must be to all except himself, but she is _no thing_ and he shall not refer to her as such. ‘’ _Someone_ is hunting me. They are hurt, and they need to be healed, and please, please help me.’’

‘’You should ask someone else, then,’’ the flame-haired man stares down at his coal-black, burning fingers. ‘’I destroy everything I touch- I’m no help.’’

‘’Oh. I… I’ll see myself out then. I thank you.’’

And he walks away, lifting his hair up as not to disturb its inhabitants. He’s not sure how to keep ahead of Mami-No-Face now, but he’s sure that Enma-Magma-Made’s burning will at least make her circle _around_ for quite a bit.

He’s not even ten meters away when he hears a sigh and the rustling of feathers. A shadow passes over him.

‘’Wha- What is it, Hibari-no-mikoto?’’

The bird-man perched in the tree above him narrows his eyes. ‘’He can’t accompany you, but I can. You’re lucky I care for the centre of the earth, wreath-child.’’

Tsunayoshi feels his moss quickly covering his arms underneath his robes as if to add an extra layer of protection against Hibari-no-mikoto.

A considering look passes over the bird god's face. ‘’Hmm… this might be less onerous then I thought it would be. Your hair seems like an excellent place to nap, herbivore.’’

And just like that, Hibari somersaults out of the tree, transforming into a bird mid-flight. A flurry of black, brown, edged white, the skylark’s bird form is revealed. With a huff a bird shouldn’t be able to produce, he nests decidedly into Tsunayoshi’s hair, right next to the little yellow ball of fluff he picked up a month ago.

…Tsunayoshi has _no idea_ what is happening, but he still has his life and his flower crown, so it will be all right.

…Perhaps after he’s stopped shivering.

* * *

It’s been about an hour when he hears her blood-curdling laughter again. ‘’Brother, oh, brother, give me your wreath! I want to wear it, upon my pretty head!’’

Breath speeding up, Tsunayoshi runs faster, not sure whether he should run toward or away from her. In his hair, Hibari stirs. He speaks, though how Tsunayoshi does not know, for he still has the beak of a skylark. It must be the ways of the true gods- after all, Tsunayoshi is only a half-god. ‘’Mami-No-Face, Cherry-child the Blood Thirsty? She’s the one hunting you, wreath-child? Why don’t you use her as your first blood sacrifice? Perhaps you’d be a better challenge as a full god.’’

Tsunayoshi scowls up at him, but is careful not to move his head too much, not wanting to wake the other animals up. Stinging nettles grow along his ears defensively. ‘’My mother birthed me into this world a half-god, and it’s hard, I won’t lie to you, oh feathered one, but tonight is not the night I shall be blooded!’’ He clutches at the wreath in his hair. ‘’Mami-No-Face can under no circumstance get my wreath. It was my mother’s, it’s the last thing I have of her, and it bestowed upon me a curious gift. Whoever touches me, it matters not, for I shall know their true name.’’

Hibari-no-mikoto snarls. ‘’You know power greater than the most, and still, you cower in your childhood hide? You were made to be a lion. You are the last earth deity, now grow! Enma-Magma-Made still suffers, alone and far too hot, the centre of the earth without an earth to wrap around him. You have responsibilities, quit running from them!’’

Tsunayoshi laughs at him. ‘’I did not even _know_ you were waiting on me, oh Feathered one! It’s not as if anyone would sacrifice to _me_ blood instead of wine and flowers. I can’t become a full god until I’m blooded, and it certainly won’t be happening tonight! Mami-No-Face may be bloodthirsty, may reek of blood in the wind, but she is no less a person than we are. She is cursed, nothing more, nothing less, for I know her true name and it must be spoken once more. I have to heal her, Hibari-no-mikoto. Please understand that.’’

Hibari-no-mikoto spreads his wings and leaves the nest in Tsunayoshi’s hair, flying over as Mami-No-Face spots him and tries to grab him straight out of the air. Her dirty, blood crusted hands look like claws in the moonless night, and Tsunayoshi knows them to be just as sharp. ‘’Brother, oh, brother, give me your wreath! I want to wear it, upon my pretty head!’’

Hibari-no-mikoto crows in victory, knowing something that Tsunayoshi does not. ‘’Thrice she has called for you now! And once I have seen her visage. No less than thirteen marks of Daemon the Deranged are upon her, so I know what you must do.’’

‘’What is it?!’’ Tsunayoshi calls desperately, as Mami-No-Face catches sight of him again and dives for him, the forest only barely managing to trip her up before she gets to him.

‘’You must hold on to her for the entire night, no matter what happens. Only if you can do that, she will be given her face back upon the dawn.’’

The next time Mami-No-Face dives for him, Tsunayoshi opens his arms wide, like his mother taught him to receive the world, and he embraces her with all he has. She tries to reach up for his wreath, but her arms are pinned by his, so instead, she rakes her claws along his back. It hurts. It hurts like nothing else Tsunayoshi has ever felt, but he doesn’t let go.

Embracing her hurts. It hurts, but loving has always hurt Tsunayoshi, because small birds die so quickly, and nature works in seasons. When winter comes, all must die and sleep, and he is left alone. It is inevitable, and he must learn to live with it, no matter how much it hurts. This situation is no different.

As if she can hear the sound of his heart shattering to pieces, Mami-No-Face speaks up: ‘’Brother, brother, why do you hate me so? Why is the light so low? Brother, brother, don’t leave me alone! They have come for us, our blood and our bone!’’

She’s stuck in the past and liquid drips from her chin as if there are eyes somewhere in the void that should be her face, crying, crying her heart out.

Mami-No-Face, Tsunayoshi’s mind says. His soul screams another name. He holds on.

And so, the first three hours pass.

At the three hour mark, Mami-No-Face changes.

This time, she changes into him. Enma-Magma-Made, with his burning skin, the powerful god that Tsunayoshi has inadvertently left alone in his burning, only to be touched by the skylark, protected by his feathers. It burns. By god, it burns. Tsunayoshi is only a half-god. The world is a dangerous place for him. He is wine and flowers, and though wine contains poison, it is so easily drained, and though flowers are lovely, they die oh so quickly once cut.

Neither holds up well against flame.

He hopes at least his little critters left his hair, that he may not discover a small corpse within its confines once this is over.

The flames are agony. Bitter tears leak out of Tsunayoshi’s eyes, but Mami-No-Face, in Enma-Magma-Made’s skin, cries no less than he does. Her fiery tears splash onto his face and it hurts, by god, it _hurts,_ but Tsunayoshi doesn’t let go.

‘’Brother, brother, did they take your wreath? Brother, brother, did you burn up dead? I saw the fire, I saw you burn, did you die or did you turn?’’

Again she is lost in the past, looking at him and searching for someone who isn’t there- someone who Tsunayoshi isn’t even sure is alive, if her hints are any indication.

At the three hour mark, the sun comes up. It peaks above the trees, shyly coming closer, as if not entirely sure it is welcome. That is silly though, because there is nothing that has ever been more welcomed by Tsunayoshi, as the first rays of the sun touch Mami-No-Face, and release her from her curse.

For the last time, she changes. Tsunayoshi lets go, she falls down onto the earth, onto her knees and the dried blood of her victims on her body cracks and falls onto the ground, revealing her true form. Tsunayoshi can’t help but gasp at her visage.

The red hair that got her the name cherry-child stays, her small form changes to that of a slender, young girl, barely in her teenage years. What is most striking though, is that where there used to be a horrific _empty_ space, there is now a lovely face peeking out underneath her mop of red hair. Her nose is a little upturned, freckles all over her face, two rosy cheeks, a pair of lips and two big, red eyes. Her pupils are compasses. They remind him of Enma-Magma-Made and his burning eyes, even though this girl is decidedly not on fire.

She’s crying. She’s crying with great, heaving sobs, wracking her frame and tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘’Thank you,’’ she cries, ‘’Thank you, for saving me.’’

Tsunayoshi smiles. ‘’Welcome, Mami-Earth-Loved. That you may make many cherries grow upon this wild, wild earth.’’

She laughs through her tears, bright and beautiful. ‘’Thank you, Flower-Crowned.’’ She wipes some of her tears away. ‘’Have you seen my brother? I’m afraid the Mad God Daemon got to him too. His name is Wood-child, Gravity-given.’’

Tsunayoshi shakes his head. ‘’I’m afraid that if you’re searching for an earth deity half-god you’re out of luck. As far as I know, we’re currently the only two earth children left: you and I, to be exact. ’’

Her lips tremble and her fists clench. Tsunayoshi wishes to remove the expression off her face, but he knows how precious her face must be to her, and he has laboured long and hard for her to get it back, so he leaves it be. Moss grows along his body again as if to protect himself from her hurt. ‘’If it helps, I know Magma-Made was blooded by making a sacrifice out of the Mad God. Some said he did it out of revenge, though you’d get a better story out of Hibari-no-mikoto over there.’’

Mami smiles brilliantly, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘’Before that, though, you are still a half-god, right, Tsunayoshi-sama?’’

Tsunayoshi ducks his head, fiddling with his hair as his critters return to their nests within it. ‘’You know I am. Nobody’d mistake the aura of a measly half-god for a real one.’’

Mami bites her lip. ‘’I can’t turn back time. I can’t do anything about all the time I’ve lost, but… This is an awful lot of blood, wouldn’t you agree?’’ She points at the cracked, dried blood all around her. ‘’I may regret what I did now, but that doesn’t help me, nor does it help my victims. I want to grant them peace, if only by giving their death a purpose. So please, won’t you accept my sacrifice, Flower-Crowned? You, who were born in the existify of divinity?’’

Tsunayoshi’s back straightens as his frown deepens. ‘’Do not sacrifice to me for my birth. Sacrifice to me for my life- for my deeds, because a god does not ask for sacrifice, he demands it. Gods, real gods, require blood. Real gods are cruel. Can you see that within me?’’

Mami looks him in the eye and says: ‘’Yes. Did you not make me suffer this whole night? Did you not force me to live on, instead of just ending my struggle by cutting me down? Flower-Crowned, you may be a half-god in name, but I name you a good by the blood I have shed. Take responsibility for not taking my life, take responsibility for the fact that I have to face what I have done. I offer to you the blood of my victims, the souls of my prey, the nourishment you may take from the wretches I have slaughtered.’’

The last flake of blood cracks upon her skin and starts to fall down. Before it can hit the ground, Tsunayoshi snatches it out of the air and puts it in his mouth. It’s dry, but it still tastes of iron, and it falls apart upon his tongue. It tastes like ambrosia. It tastes like power. It tastes like divinity.

Blood- sacrificed, freely given by the one who spilt it. Sacrificed to _him._

The wildlife around him bursts into bloom, the fruit in the trees rapidly ripening, bursting open and spilling their bounty across the land. It is as if colour suddenly has no meaning anymore, so bright and delirious is it around them, so true and _impossibly_ clear.

Hibari-no-mikoto falls out of the tree, his small feathered body so easily shoved out by a growing peach, his bones hollow. He transforms mid-fall, landing in a crouch in his humanoid form like the predator he is. Tsunayoshi, drunk on his new godhood, the blood and the awed wonder on Mami’s face, can’t bring himself to be properly terrified.

This proves to be a mistake as the god stalks up to him and backs him against a tree, pinned in between two large wings, clawed hands sliding up his sides and a knee between his thighs. Tsunayoshi swallows thickly. ‘’H-Hibari-no-mikoto?’’

Hibari’s sharp beak trails along the tender skin of his throat and Tsunayoshi’s breath hitches, tilting up his chin to show the vulnerable spot off to the predator in front of him. It’s probably not smart. It’s not smart- but… Tsunayoshi has had a long evening. Hibari-no-mikoto isn’t hurting him, quite the contrary, and the little thrill that goes through his body feels _good._ ‘’Oh- that’s. That’s nice. Very nice.’’

Hibari-no-mikoto humms against his skin, the vibrations coming out of his beak strangely. ‘’You smell like blood,’’ beady eyes peer up at Tsunayoshi from where he’s still lodged around his body, around his throat, ‘’And I’m going to take you back with me, and my lover and I are going to take you _apart_ until we can taste the blood on your very tongue.’’

Tsunayoshi’s pulse jumps. His heartbeat elevates. Heat moves through him at the speed of light. ‘’No- No protest here!’’

Mami clears her throat awkwardly, still standing in the middle of the clearing. ‘’Um. If I could come along? I’d like to meet Magma-Made, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ve been told he has information about the rightful killing of the Mad God Daemon?’’

Hibari’s head turns, a full 180 degrees to look at her, before he harrumphs in displeasure but acquiesces. He squeezes Tsunayoshi’s hip as he turns back. ‘’We’re continuing this later.’’

Tsunayoshi can’t help but nod furiously, gulping, the birds in his hair chirping cheerily, the frog hiding somewhere in the back croaks suggestively. Tsunayoshi flushes bright red as the wind gathers him up, off to his next destination.

Mami follows quickly behind.

* * *

Enma-Magma-Made, when they return, is still in the same spot, though his burning footsteps have sunken in several places in the clearing, the path he circled in his worry obvious to see for everyone. The things is, though, that wearing anything when your body is burning isn’t exactly possible. Tsunayoshi had known this before, of course, but… Well. When you know your job as a god is _preventing this god from burning the world by wrapping around him,_ it suddenly becomes very important. The magma sliding off his pectorals tantalizingly doesn’t exactly help either.

‘’Enma-Magma-Made!’’

The man whirls around at Tsunayoshi’s shout. His face lights up- quite literally, his glowing ember eyes are suddenly little shining suns. They crinkle as he laughs. ‘’You’re a god! A real, blooded god!’’

Tsunayoshi, in his elation, can’t help but whoop and fly at him, driven by the wind. His arms are around Enma-Magma-Made’s neck, and the god swings him around. Nothing burns. Nothing hurts. Enma’s made of magma, and yet, his embrace is exactly where Tsunayoshi belongs. The birds in his hair chirp happily and flowers bloom all over his body.

Behind them, a choked gasp sounds. ‘’Enma?!’’

Carefully putting Tsunayoshi down, Enma-Magma-Made looks up and faces Mami. ‘’Mami?! B- But you’re dead!’’

Mami smiles at him, a little brokenly. ‘’Cursed is more like it. I’m so glad you’re alive, a little part of our family left untouched. Or well, as untouched as one can be when blooded.’’ She reaches for her brother to embrace him.

Mami is Enma’s _sister?_ Woah. Which would mean Enma’s half-god name was Wood-child, Gravity-given. Previously an earth-god indeed, before he became the centre of the earth.

‘’Oh, I can’t-‘’ Enma waves with his hands, his fiery, burning hands. ‘’You’re a half-god. I’ll burn you.’’

‘’Don’t we have a solution to that now?’’ Hibari-no-mikoto drawls as he flies down from above, taking his seat on one of Enma’s shoulders. Tsunayoshi’s impressed that he fits on a single shoulder in his humanoid form, but then again, Enma’s shoulders _are_ very broad. And nicely shaped. Tsunayoshi blushes.

Hibari-no-mikoto must have hollow bones even in his humanoid form, because Enma doesn’t seem burdened by it at all. Or perhaps it’s simply that stone- even magma- doesn’t budge for anything. It’s a good sight to see, though, especially when Hibari-no-mikoto starts fussing with Enma’s flaming hair, pecking at it as if he can reign in the flames. He won’t succeed, Tsunayoshi knows, but it is a sweet gesture nonetheless. It makes something warm inside him bloom.

‘’We do have a solution for that now.’’ Tsunayoshi smiles, walking forward and touching Enma’s chest. A small layer of earth covers his magma, leaving only his face free, and quickly afterwards, flowers begin to bloom out of the earth covering his body.

Enma’s face softens. ‘’Thank you,’’ he whispers tenderly.

‘’Yes, yes, _thank you,_ glad I don’t have to see my brother’s bits bared for the world to see.’’ Mami says behind them. Enma’s cheeks burst into fire.

He shakes it off though, and walks forward to her. For the first time in years and years, Enma-Magma-Made touches someone who is not a full god, and they do not burn. For the first time in years and years, Mami-Earth-Loved feels safe. For the first time in years and years, a brother and sister embrace each other.

Tsunayoshi is ready to begin his new life, his new grand love affair, but watching the siblings reunite… It’s beautiful. His new adventure can wait a minute. What is a minute, after all, to an eternity?


End file.
